Spiral upwards
by Myplo
Summary: When Arthur proves too difficult to kill his enemies devise a new plan. Get Arthur to kill himself. Warnings contained inside.
1. Chapter 1

**Spiral Upwards**

_Warning (contains Spoilers): Depression, attempted suicide in later chapter. _

**Chapter 1**

Eames spent five minutes pounding on the door. No one answered. At four o'clock in the morning it was unlikely that Arthur was still out. Maybe he was deep asleep and hadn't heard the knocking. Arthur had an issue with people entering his flat without permission, but Eames was desperate.

Picking the first lock was easy. But Arthur was no fool and had installed two dead bolts as added security. Taking out a tool he kept for just these emergencies he slipped the advanced pick into the lock, turned it and froze.

It hadn't been locked. Checking the other one showed the same result.

Arthur, who was security conscious to the point of paranoia. Who had yelled and lectured Eames the one time he'd left a window open, leaving Arthur's home 'vulnerable', hadn't locked his door. Retrieving his concealed gun he slowly opened the door and crept inside.

All the lights were off but the moon shining through the window provided enough light to see. He let out a breath when the was no immediate sign of a struggle. Arthur wouldn't have gone down without a fight. Hearing a clinking noise coming from the kitchen he walked towards it.

He found Arthur, looking very undamaged, sitting at the table, a bowl of cereal sitting in front of him.

Running a hand over his face he lowered the gun, "Your door was unlocked, thought you were in trouble."

Arthur continued to stare at the table for a moment. Then, he lifted his head, slowly as if it weighted a tonne.

"Eames?" he said voice croaking.

"Yeah. Sorry to just pop by, but I'm in a bit of a pickle. Need a place to lay low for a bit. Okay if I crash here?" he said already moving towards the bathroom now that the danger was over, "Just gonna grab a quick shower. Then I'll explain."

The shower was heaven. After two days of running, dodging his tails, it was nice to finally be able to relax a bit. If there was anyone he was safest with it was Arthur.

Stepping out of the shower Eames noticed his first clue that something wasn't quite right. Sitting on the sink was Arthur toothbrush, toothpaste smeared on top. Picking it up he touched it, the paste was hard. It had been sitting there for days.

Looking into the connecting bedroom he felt unease curl into his stomach. It was filthy. The usually immaculate room had clothes carelessly thrown on the floor. There were draws half pulled out and wardrobe doors left open. Dirty cups and plates scattered the room and the bed looked like it hadn't been made in a month.

Eames was no stranger to mess but even for him this was excessive, and coming for Arthur...

Throwing on his clothes he walked back to kitchen, noticing for the first time just how stale the air smelt. Arthur was exactly as he'd left him, sitting silently staring at his bowl. He was only half dressed, in underwear and an unbuttoned shirt. There were dark bags under his eyes and a week's worth of stubble on his jaw. The unease he'd felt was blooming into full blown panic. Something was very wrong here.

Arthur didn't react when he slid into the chair beside him, "Arthur?"

He took a minute to tilt his head in acknowledgement, "Hi," he said, voice dull.

"Hi. You alright?"

"Yes, I'm just... having," Arthur licked his cracked lips, "I'm having breakfast."

"At four in the morning?" Looking at the bowl Eames saw that the cereal had all but disintegrated. He'd been sitting there for hours.

"Is it four? I didn't... It's not..." taking a deep breath Arthur continued, "You get up, then you have breakfast... Then you shower. You get dressed. Go for a walk, then have lunch... Do some work. Have dinner. Get undressed. Try to sleep. Repeat.

He looked up at him, Eames gut clenched at the water glistening in his eyes, "Expect I can't..., I can't get passed breakfast."

A single tear rolled down Arthur's cheek, "It's too hard. It shouldn't be this hard."

Eames was right. Something was very, very wrong here.

"Well," Eames said with forced cheer, "I guess I'm just going to have to make things a bit easier."

Abandoning breakfast in favour of hygiene he dragged Arthur to the bathroom. Eames sucked in his breath when Arthur slowly peeled off his shirt. The once muscular toned man was now stick thin. Eames could easily count the ribs. Maybe skipping breakfast hadn't been a great idea. Running the water he helped Arthur into the shower.

"I'll be just outside making a call," he said giving the man some privacy.

Taking out his cell phone he dialled the closest thing he had to a doctor, Yusuf.

"It could be a number of things," Yusuf said over the line, "Exhaustion, drugs, depression, some sort of illness. Without further knowledge it's impossible to say. Get him to talk, see if he can tell you how he got like this. I'd advise snooping as a backup. "

The shower still running Eames took Yusuf's advice and snooped around Arthur's bedroom, putting things away, cleaning up as he goes. Arthur would feel better with things in order. He found Arthur's phone on the bedside table, battery dead. Unopened mail litters his desk. His laptop had a layer of dust covering it.

Looking under the bed Eames found something. Pulling out a small bottle he saw it was a prescription of sleeping pills for a _Monica Wong. _The bottle was empty. Placing it on the bedside table he opened the draw and stilled. Inside was a gun, examining it Eames felt it was loaded. Under normal circumstances he wouldn't have found this too troubling but given Arthur's current frame of mind... He tucked the gun behind his back next to his own. Better he carry it for now.

Finishing his scan and finding nothing else. Eames sat on the bed, the sheets under his hand felt unwashed. Pulling them off he loaded up the washing machine. He grabbed fresh sheets and remade the bed. Checking his watch Eames saw that Arthur had been in the shower for 40 minutes. More than long enough.

Opening the door to the bathroom he walked into a wall of steam. Arthur was sitting on the floor of the shower, staring unfocused, water streaming down on his face. Rushing over Eames turned off the taps and pulled him to his feet.

"You're alright," he said wrapping a towel around him, sitting him on the toilet, "We'll get you fixed up in no time."

But Eames was beginning to worry that whatever this was, it wasn't going to be an easy fix. By the state of the man and his room it was clear that this had been going on for weeks, if not months. Whatever was going on in Arthur's mind was toxic, and most likely far beyond his capabilities to deal with. His body though, maybe that was something Eames could do something about. Going to the cupboard he grabbed shaving cream and a razor.

"May I?"

Arthur looked at the instruments in his hands. He raised a hand to feel his face. A flicker of surprise hit his eyes before he stretched out his neck and nodded.

Working away Eames took extra care not to cause any nicks.

"How long have you been feeling like this?" he asked.

"I don't know. Awhile? Feels like forever."

"Do you remember how it started?"

"I don't know."

"Did you just wake up one day and felt like this?"

"I don't- No. It hasn't always been this bad."

Arthur, now clean shaven, looked much more like the man he'd been working with for years. Breathing a little easier he lead Arthur to the bed and got him to lie down.

"Yusuf thinks you might just be exhausted," although Eames doubted that was all it was, "You try get some sleep, I'll phone around see what I can find."

He turned to leave when Arthur's hand shot out to grab his wrist. His hold was weak but the look in his eyes stopped Eames cold.

"There's something wrong," Arthur whispered, "Inside. Something foreign. I don't know what it is or how it got there. But it's taken control. Everything I do, it's always there, whispering. I can't do it much longer. If it doesn't stop soon, I'll- It'll kill me."

Eames was shaking as he closed the bedroom door. His instinct was to run. Run far away without looking back. But Arthur was a friend. Out of all the people in the world he'd chosen Arthur to go to when he needed help. It was only fair he return the favour. One thing was for sure, he was out his depth.

Pulling out his cell phone he dialled two numbers. He needed reinforcements.

* * *

tbc

Despite multiple checks I'm sure there were spelling and grammar issues. I have no beta but am looking for one. If anyone is interested send me a buzz.


	2. Chapter 2

Eames left Arthur in his room to sleep while he waited for Cobb to show up. He told himself that it was to give Arthur as much precious sleep as he could, but the truth was that he didn't want to have to go in there alone.

Seeing Arthur like this was hard. He'd worked side by side with him for years. It's true that they hadn't been particularly close when they had started working together. But when you work and fight side-by-side with someone you can't help developing a certain bond. What had started as contempt and a bear tolerance had slowly developed into respect and a solid working relationship. In the years after the Fischer job they had found themselves working together more often than not. Their relationship turned to a friendship of sorts. They started going for celebratory drinks after successful jobs. Then meeting up if they were in the same city. They even went as far as to let the other stay in their personal homes when the need arose. Living the life they lead that was saying a lot. Privacy was valued.

No one wanted to see the man they'd grudgingly admired and had started to care about reduced to tears over uneaten cereal. So while Arthur slept he found himself some liquor and waited for Cobb to arrive.

"Ariadne?" Eames said in surprise when she showed up with Cobb four hours later, "I wasn't expecting you till tomorrow, thought you were coming from Paris."

"Oh, I'm taking a bit of a holiday, spending some time in LA with a friend," she said.

Eames smiled, "A friend. And you just happen to show up at the exact moment as Cobb?"

"Well, no, we were—"

"As riveting as this is," Cobb interrupted, "We're here for Arthur. Where is he?"

"Sleeping hopefully. We should talk first before going in there. Don't want to make things worse."

Ariadne looked at the closed door, "Is it really that bad?"

"It's definitely not good."

In the living room Eames sat down on one of the couches, Cobb and Ariadne sitting opposite, "Yusuf says it could be any number of things causing this, but Arthur said something that makes me think there might be something more sinister going on. He said that there was something foreign inside, that it was controlling him."

Cobb stilled before closing his eyes and hanging his head.

"What are you saying?" Ariadne asked looking from him to Cobb, "An Inception?"

"Let's not jump to conclusions," Cobb said raising his head, "If we waste time trying to reverse an inception that may not even exist... It could just as likely be something else. Arthur isn't immune to human faults. What we need is concrete facts. We need to find out when this started, how it progressed."

"I already tried talking to him. Didn't get very far." Eames said.

"Well if he can't tell us consciously there's another option," Cobb looked at him, "We extract the information."

Ariadne stiffened in her seat, "I don't feel comfortable delving into Arthur's inner secrets. He wouldn't like us doing that."

"Even if it helps him?" Eames asked.

"Is he aware? If you speak to him does he understand, does he respond?" Ariadne asked.

Eames nodded. She stood up, "Then let's try asking him what he wants us to do."

Ariadne found Arthur lying in bed, wide-awake staring at the wall. He turned to her when she walked further into the room. Her heart broke at the sight of him. Her once unstoppable mentor reduced to a shell.

"Hey," he said making an effort to sit up. He smiled at her, or tried to, the curve of his lips flickering upwards a second before falling flat, "why are you here?"

"Eames called us."

"Eames is here?"

She bite her lip, "You don't remember?"

"It's all kind of fuzzy."

An awkward silence followed before Ariadne looked around the room quickly finding some clothes tucked away in the closet. She walked over to the bed and sat down next to him. Ignoring how he leaned away from her she placed the clothes on the bed.

"Dom's here too. We all need to talk to you about what's going on. When you're ready, we'll be waiting in the living room."

She reached out and touched his cheek, leaving her hand there a moment before getting up and leaving the room.

* * *

Arthur sat staring at the clothes on the bed. Throw back the covers, he thought to himself, one step at a time, just throw back the covers. He didn't move.

Ariadne, Eames and Dom, were they really here, all here in his tiny little flat? Maybe he was finally hallucinating after days of no sleep. Except he could hear them in the other room. Three people, making all that noise. They'll crowd him in, make it hard to breath taking up all that space. Why are they here? Don't they know how impossible it is, to talk, to think.

They're here for you, the voice inside said, because you couldn't handle it. 'Cause you're weak, you're useless. Hopeless.

No, Arthur thought, and with a great effort of will he threw back the covers. Not hopeless. His friends are here. They'll help, they'll see what he missed. They'll drag him up from this pit he's been living in. Where getting out of bed takes all day. Where thoughts won't stick and time just stops. They'll help him, they have to, because he can't live with this much longer.

He had flashes of images, Eames at the table, putting him to bed, standing in front of the shower. He ran a hand through his hair. It was damp. He didn't remember having a shower. Slowly his eyes scanned the room. His eyes welled up. It was spotless. The chaos that he'd created, that had built up to an impossible task to rid. It was all gone. Someone else had been forced to come in here and pick up after him, because he was too pathetic to pick up a goddamn shirt.

Turning away from the shamefully clean room he stared at the door. That was his destination focus on that, he thought. But it was so far away, such a long distance to travel. He had to stand up first. Then get dressed. Each task seemed as impossible as the next. Don't think about it, he said to himself, one step at a time. Stand up, that's all you have to do, just stand up.

Five minutes later he stood up.

* * *

The trio in the living room sat in silence. Eames had gotten everyone tea but the hot cup in his hands could only distracted him for so long. His thoughts would invariably drift back to Arthur and the saddened look on Ariadne's face when she'd sat back down. That look had confirmed it, the situation was as bad as he thought.

Unable to bear his private thoughts any longer he looked to his two companions and said, "So how long have you two been shagging."

Cobb shot him a glare and Ariadne went a brilliant shade of pink. Grinning he was about to dig further when the room opened. Everyone froze as Arthur entered looking so young dressed in sweats and a tshirt.

He paused half way across the floor looking lost, unsure what to do next. Eames stood up and went to him, putting an arm around his bony shoulder and leading him to sit next to his seat on the couch. Once seated Arthur kept his blank eyes locked on the table in front of him.

They sat in silence, no one sure how to start, where to being approaching the man. Finally Cobb slid forward on his seat trying to catch Arthur's eye.

"Arthur? You need to look at me. Can you do that?"

Arthur gave a minute shake of his head.

Cobb leaned closer, "Arthur, you're my man. If I need something done I go to you. You've never done me wrong. I trust you above anyone else. We have a connection, a bond that transcends any job. You're my man, and if I ask you to do something you'd do it. Right?"

Arthur took a moment then slowly nodded.

"Okay," Cobb continued, "What is vital for this mission, what I need from you right now is to look up and let us help you."

The silence that followed was deafening. Eames was sure Cobb's approach had failed when Arthur lifted his head.

"You're wrong," he said looking at Cobb, "I have done you wrong. I screwed up the Fischer job, we almost failed because of me."

"It wasn't your fault. We didn't fail," Ariadne said, "It all worked out."

Arthur ignored her focused on Cobb, "How can you look at me knowing you're kids almost lost their father because of me."

"Easy," Cobb said, "I love you. You were Mal's best friend. It doesn't matter what you do, I'll always be here for you. I should've checked up on you, should've noticed something was wrong. I'm sorry."

"I don't deserve it."

"Yes you do," Cobb said without hesitation, "and that's the last time I want to here you put yourself down. Got it."

Arthur swallowed but gave a tiny nod. Cobb apparently spent slumped back against the couch. Eames let out a sigh. I guess it's my turn now, he thought.

"We want to perform an extraction on you," he said, going for the blunt approach, "find out how this started. So we can help you get better."

"My subconscious is militarized."

"Which is why only one of us will go in. We'll make it quick."

Arthur looked over at him, "I'll get to sleep? You'll keep me under after you're done?"

"If that's what you want."

He let out a sigh, "Okay, but I want it to be you," he said to Eames.

Eames ignored the flicker of hurt that crossed Cobb's face. Arthur was the priority here, he didn't have time to deal with Cobb's feelings as well.

"Let's not waste time then."

Ariadne got the PASIV from Cobb's car while he and Eames discussed options.

"Arthur's smart, he won't be fooled easily," Cobb said.

"Maybe he's current state will leave him a bit more susceptible."

"Let's hope," Cobb said as Ariadne arrived with the device.

Within minutes they were both hooked up. The last sight Eames saw was relief crossing Arthur's face as he was pulled into sleep.

* * *

He'd built a hospital, with the plan of finding Arthur and getting a doctor to look him over. Maybe Arthur knew more about what was happening than he could recall. The first thing he noticed was the noise.

Above the usual hospital routine that he's created there was a faint buzz, as if one hundred insects were faintly flying by. Temporarily dismissing it, he went to find Arthur. Jogging through the hospital he found him in the waiting room staring at the wall.

Forging into an old persona he sat next to him he said, "What are you here for?"

Arthur looked up a him, scrutinising him for a moment before replying, "I have an infection."

"What kind of infection?"

"I don't know, that why I'm here."

Eames noticed the women sitting next to Arthur was moving her lips as she read her magazine. Listening carefully a chill ran though him as he heard the word she was repeating over and over, "Worthless".

Looking over at the man across from them he saw that he was muttering too, "Coward".

Quickly scanning the room showed that all the projections were speaking under their breath. _Useless. Helpless. Unloved. Weak. Pathetic. Hopeless. _Over and over the projections quietly chanted their demoralising words. Momentarily leaving Arthur he walked back through the hospital. He saw that everyone was going about their pretend work seemingly unaware that their lips were moving. All repeating different gut wrenching words.

Rushing back to Arthur Eames heard two nurses and stopped cold, while smiling and taking blood pressures they were both whispering, "Give up. There's no point. Just end it."

This is what Arthur's subconscious was feeding back to him every second of everyday. Thoughts designed to tear a man down from the inside. No one would be able to stand against this kind of attack. That's what this was, Eames was certain now, an attack. This couldn't be normal. Even if somehow Arthur had fallen into depression his mind wouldn't respond like this. No, someone had deliberately turned his mind into an endless cycle of misery. An infection Arthur had said. Somehow they had gotten past Arthur's defenses.

Leaning against the wall Eames banged his head. As a team they had perform the impossible, an inception. Now they were going to have to figure out how to undo one. While being down one curial member. And if those nurses were any indication they were on borrowed time.

As he went back and sat down next to Arthur he felt new respect for the man. He was strong, so very strong. He may not look like it now, but he'd been living with this bombardment for god knows how long. Yet he hadn't given in, he was fighting it as best he could. Eames just prayed that he'd hold out a little bit longer. That they could reverse it before it was too late.

* * *

tbc

The next part is going to be Arthur's POV up to this point and I want to make sure I get it right so it's probably going to take a few days to get posted.


	3. Chapter 3

"Someone did this do me?" Arthur asked.

"It looks that way," Eames said.

The four of them were once again sitting around the coffee table. Eames had shared the horror that he'd discovered in the dream. Ariadne and Cobb's reactions had been predictable. Her eyes opening wide, her hand covering her mouth in shock. His body going still, jaw clenching. But Arthur, he simply smiled.

"It wasn't something I did?" Arthur said looking at him.

Eames put his hand on Arthur's knee and smiled back at him, "No. It wasn't you. But it was someone, and we need to know who so we can go about undoing whatever they did."

"Wait," Ariadne said, "Now that he knows these thoughts aren't his, shouldn't the inception unravel on its own."

Cobb shook his head, "It's been there too long. Whatever foreign element was introduced has grown roots," he looked over at Arthur, "It's seeped into every aspect of your mind. That's why all your projections were affected. The idea may have been planted but your mind has fully embraced it."

"Can it... can it even be undone?" Ariadne asked.

Eames' tightened his grip on Arthur's knee but didn't have an answer. It was starting to seem impossible, reversing the inception. They had to find out exactly how it happened. Which means they need to know who did it, why and when. All of which Arthur seemed to have no answers for.

"Yes," Cobb said breaking Eames' thoughts.

He eyes were locked on Arthur's, "Yes. It _will_ be undone. I promise."

Eames could feel Arthur's muscles tensing beneath his hand but he didn't move. He simply nodded his head.

"Okay," Cobb said, "First thing we need to know is when this inception occurred. Can you think of a time you may have been vulnerable? When someone may have gotten in?"

"No."

"When did you first start to notice the depression?" Ariadne asked.

Arthur dropped his eyes, "I don't, I don't know... But... I know the moment I started fighting back."

_Two months ago_

_Arthur deliberately arrived late. The party was in full swing by the time he stepped through the door._

_"Uncle Arthur," James said running towards him arms held high._

_Arthur plastered a smile on his face, "Hey birthday boy."_

_James made contact at full speed, staggering him back. The beaming smile on the little boy's face caused Arthur's gut to clench. He couldn't understand how anyone could be that excited to see him._

_"Did you bring me a present?" James asked letting him go, hopping up and down._

_Arthur froze. Great job, he thought to himself, all you've done is walk through the door and you've let him down. Who shows up to a birthday party without a present. People who've dropped the ball that's who. You let him down, just like Mal, then Dom. Give it a few more hours and you might disappoint Phillipa too. Then you'd have the whole family._

_He mentally shook his head. Snap out of it. This isn't about you, it's about James._

_"You know I did get you something," he lied, "but I left it at my house."_

_Arthur watched as the boys face fell slightly before beaming up at him once more, "That's okay. You being here's a good present. Let me show you what else I got."_

_The second James turned his back and lead him into the backyard he dropped the smile. But he was ready to bring it back the moment anyone looked his way. He couldn't let anyone see how tried he was, especially Dom._

_Arthur spent the next ten minutes listening to James merit the pros and cons of all his new presents. Arthur tried to listen, he really did. But as James went on and on jumping from one train of thought to the other, Arthur couldn't keep up._

_Arthur hated his lack of focus, this is what he did for a living, processing information. It's because you're tired, he said rationalising it to himself, if you could just get some proper sleep then everything would be better. Though the sleeping pills weren't working and using the PASIV device made the insomnia worse, Arthur was sure that if he could just figure out a way to have a decent night's sleep then all his problems would be solved. Yes, sleep was the only issue. Just sleep._

_"Daddy, Uncle Arthur's here."_

_Arthur was snapped back to reality when Dom gave a gentle slap on his back. He hadn't heard him approach._

_"James you're friend Andy wanted to say goodbye," Dom said patting the boy on the head as he ran to accost another guest. He turned to face Arthur, "I haven't heard from you in awhile, was starting to get worried."_

_"I've just been busy working, you know how it is," he said. Liar, the voice whispered, why don't you tell him the real reason. That now that he's free and you're not you don't know how to stay friends._

_"You're looking a bit thin," Dom smiled at him, "Forgetting to eat now that I'm not around to remind you?"_

_Arthur laughed. Not too much or it's obvious you're faking, he told himself, as long as you look happy he won't question anything._

_Dom grasped his shoulder, "It's good to see you."_

_Arthur felt his chest tighten. He couldn't force any words out so he simply nodded. Please go away, he thought, I could never fool you for long._

_"I should make the rounds. Stick around?" Dom said._

_"Sure," Arthur lied._

_He was ridiculously relieved to see Dom walk away. His eyes scanned the backyard looking around at all the people. Could they tell? That he was barely holding it together, that a two minute conversation sapped all his energy. Could they see how weak he was?_

_He needed to get away from all the people. He walked to the door leading inside, deliberately slowing his steps so no one would be able to tell he was running away. Once inside the safety of the house he rested his hands on the mantel and hung his head._

_What have you done to yourself? This family is all you have left, but you don't want anything to do with them. Without them what's the point?_

_He raised his head and saw a picture of his family. Dom and Mal, huge smiles across their faces, arms wrapped around Phillipa and James. They were at the zoo, because that's what family's do, they go out together. They don't stay hiding in their rooms alone, afraid to dial the phone in case no one answered._

_His eyes focused in on Mal's shining face. Was this what it was like for you? He thought. Living in the dark having your own thoughts betray you. Is that why you did it? To silence the voices? In the end did you look at your children and just know, that no matter what you did you were going to fail. Why try at all right?_

_Arthur felt a calm wash over him. I understand now, it's not giving up, it's giving in. Living... it was getting harder and harder. Every day he seemed to slip a little bit more. Mundane things required enormous feats of strength. And he was tired... so very tired. If it were to end... the voices would stop. He wouldn't be able to disappoint anyone anymore. He'd be... free._

_He could do it. He had enough sleeping pills that if he downed the whole bottle... He'd just go to sleep and then he wouldn't have to deal with anything anymore. Just blissful oblivion._

_He was halfway across the room before he saw her. Huddled in the corner was Phillipa. Her knees were drawn up to her chest, her arms wrapped around them. Her shoulders were shaking as tears streamed down her face. 'He's a Jerk' he heard her whisper into her arms._

_Her head shot up in surprise as he approached her._

_"You okay?" he asked._

_Phillipa's face flushed and she looked away. Stupid, he thought to himself, of course she's not okay. Walk away, the voice said, whatever you do it'll just make it worse. What business is it of yours anyway? It's not like you're her real family._

_Arthur turned on his heel and took a step away when he heard her breath hitch. That tiny sound sent a jolt to his heart. This isn't about me, he thought. He walked back to her. He slid down the wall so he was sitting on the floor. He didn't say anything, just sat next to her while she cried, her body shaking._

_After a few minutes Phillipa unravelled her body and threw her arms around him clinging to his neck, burying her face in his shoulder. He froze a moment before slowly raising his arms to place them around her._

_"I've missed you Uncle Arthur," she whispered, "I've already lost mum, I don't want to lose you too."_

_He felt his eyes prickle. He tightened his grip on her squeezing his eyes shut. A tear rolled down his face._

_Hours later when he got home he went to his bathroom and flushed all his sleeping pills down the toilet. He wasn't giving in. Not yet. Not when there was someone who needed him to live._

Present

Eames felt hope rise in his chest after Arthur finished his story. The first seeds of a plan were forming in his mind. From the sounds of it Arthur had been one step away from ending his life. The poisonous thoughts had won. That should have been it. But one little girl had managed to drive them back. Had given Arthur the strength to hold them at bay for two months.

Eames smiled at the man next to him. Maybe they didn't need to reverse the inception, maybe they needed to perform one of their own instead. Inject an antidote to counteract the poison.

He slid himself along the couch and wrapped his arm around Arthur's shoulder pulling him in close.

"Maybe we can't undo it," he said, "but I think I know how we can override it."

* * *

tbc

Sorry for the wait, my brother's getting married so it's been busy busy busy.

Please review, let me know what you think so far :-)


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